March Meeting – “Getting the Most Out of GDC”

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is Wednesday, March 9th at Monroe in Cambridge and will begin at 7:00pm; talk begins at8:00pm.

IGDA Boston Presents: “Getting the Most out of the Game Developers Conference!”

Just one more week until most of the Boston Post Mortem board heads to San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference! This is one of the most important game industry events of the year and can make a strong impact on your business, or your career. The Boston Post Mortem board has attended GDC over the years as volunteers, biz dev managers, organizers, recruiters and job-seekers. We’d like to share our experiences and how you can be successful in any of these positions.

Game conferences can be exciting and rewarding to attend, but also intimidating, especially for first time participants. There are ways to make the most of your time and money in order to get the best outcome for yourself as a developer, the game you’re creating, or the business you’re promoting. Join us as we talk GDC planning & priorities, and leave with the tools you’ll need to prepare for your next conference!

Panelists:Dawn Rivers is Cinematographer at Harmonix Music Systems. She combines her passion for lighting and her extensive film background from Pixar and the Ringling College of Art and Design on games such as Rock Band 4, Dance Central: Spotlight, and Fantasia Music Evolved and is a pioneer in Virtual Reality, working on experiences like Harmonix Music VR for PlayStation VR.

Renzo G. Heredia is a local composer/sound designer who delved right into making sounds for games ever since starting classes at Berklee College of Music in 2010. Since graduating in 2015, he’s worked on 2 mobile titles (Midnight Terrors, Limbs), a Leap Motion title (Many Mini Things), works as editor for Video Game Music Online’s podcast, and currently does contract audio QA at Harmonix for Rock Band 4. He enjoys playing drums, running, and watching movies.

Alex Engel is a Boston game developer who has been part of the Boston scene for a decade. He has mainly worked for online games, from Eve Online to Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Timelines. He is currently a Product Manager at Disruptor Beam, where he works on Star Trek Timelines, the new mobile game for iOS and Android. In his spare time he likes to bike, hike, and talk people’s ears off.

Melissa Ferrao is a Conference & Events Manager at Harmonix Music Systems. She has coordinated Harmonix’s GDC prescence for the past three years, managing logistics for all development staff and supporting the company’s business development efforts. Melissa has most recently organized a variety events related to Harmonix’s launch of Rock Band 4, including its booths & parties at PAX East, E3, PAX Prime and Comic-Con. She uses her background in Business Administration and previous experience in Public Relations to lend support to Harmonix’s marketing initiatives.

Moderator:Les Nelken has been in the game industry since 1994. He was at Turbine for six years working on The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Asheron’s Call MMOs. He also worked on the Aliens: Colonial Marines FPS at Demiurge Studios, on casual games at Blue Fang and the Copernicus MMO at Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios. His research interests include video game design, Next-Gen games, VR, art and architecture.

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